Poetry Non-Stop – National Poetry Writing Month

Poetry Books

April is National Poetry Writing Month (also known as #NaPoWriMo). The challenge is to write a new poem each day throughout the month. It started in America in 2003, and has grown since then with poets everywhere encouraging each other to take the challenge and get writing. Pattrick Widdess, a poet based in Wales who regularly performs his work and has had poetry published in a number of magazines, has written Poetry Non-Stop, an inspirational guide, ready for National Poetry Writing Month 2016.

Poetry Non-Stop provides ideas, techniques and prompts to enable anyone, whether they are a complete novice or a more experienced poet, to let the juices flow and access their inner muse. As Widdess explains in his introduction, “It’s the equivalent of a musician practising their instrument every day. The more regularly you write the better you will be.”

The book does not provide a magic formula to create the perfect poem, and many of the prompts are similar to others which I’ve come across in other books or creative writing workshops. The point is simply to get you to write, even if what you write isn’t brilliant (Widdess recommends editing at a later date) – it is about breaking that barrier, pushing through the ‘writer’s block’ to the other side. Each idea is brief, more of a starting point for writers to get curious and do some of their own research, rather than a detailed description of a poetic form or technique, and Widdess uses his own work as examples, to show what can be produced.

After his encouraging introduction, Widdess provides 30 writing prompts, each with an inspiring quote from a famous writer and an example poem – one for each day. This is followed by suggestions on how to edit your work and advice on the next steps, aimed primarily at beginners.

My own poetry writing has lapsed recently, so I’m planning on using Poetry Non-Stop to see if I can kick start the habit again. I will let you know how I get on, and I will also provide a few inspirational posts on this blog, to help get the muse up and running for any aspiring poets out there.

Visit www.napowrimo.net for a list of blogs where poets will post their ‘poem-a-day’ during April 2016, and if you want to join in you can add your own blog or website to the list. Please do let me know how you get on via the comments below…